wasp3245
Finally riding a big boys bike
Hello Cycling World ....
Monday June 12th you can get on your bike and ride ..in celebration of Karl Drais first ride 200 years ago . Don't blow it or you''ll have to wait another 100 years .
Thursday June 12th 1817 Karl Drais jumped on his Laufs machine / swift walker / draisienne, hobby horse ( bike with no pedals) and rode out of Mannheim ( Germany) and back again about 9 km roughly a mere hour of one mans life ..but the beginning of a lifetime of fun and recreation for the rest of the world ... ok so may be not on a hobby horse ...but once they added pedals ( Pierre Lallement 1863) things got really rolling .
The IVCA (International Veteran Cycle Association) just completed it's rally in Karlsruhe ...home of Drais ..in life and death .. about 450 old bike folks gathered with a record number of hobby horses..some 28 all running in a herd, complete with racing !
The real fun was the ride to the meet .... about 14 folks from around the planet gathered in Nancy ,France with there draisienne / hobby horse ..and headed east to Karlsruhe , Germany ...about 240 Km ..covering about 55 km per day ...( which just about killed us off) . With 7 .3 billion folks on this planet and only 14 showed up to ride ... there are a lot of smart folks out there .
All was fun as we gathered in Nancy in anticipation of the big ride . Draisiennes and hobby horses..have two wheels ( wooden wagon type ..which all but one had rubber bands super glued on to the steel tires ..to reduce the vibrations ... reduce ,,,yes ,, in no way eliminate . Now you walk , run, with your feet ..yes touching the ground ...long strides ... your body has never done this before ... and after riding one ..your body will go into to shakes at the mere sight of a hobby horse. It was a learning curve for all of us ..... I rode a Johnson hobby horse copy from 1818 ...very fortunate that Johnson added coasting pegs on the front wheel ...yes to coast with ...anytime the earth slopped down you coast for all it that gravity can pull you . I found it much more effective and less painful to the body to use the hobby as a scooter pushing off with one foot ..and alternating feet .... one level ground I could keep up with my two legged comrades .
We had a great time riding on various bike paths paralleling several water canals ... going from little town to little town...serenaded by the Cuckoo bird who was all you happy to give audio commentary to the sight he saw..day after day after day with every bend of the trail he was there .
On the 5th day of riding we crossed the Rhine on a ferry and raced ..(we averaged 10.5km per hour ..so 6 mph ..that's top speed ..faster than walking....but not by much ) to our destination Karlsruhe and paid homage to Drais' monument ..he seemed quite surprised upon out arrival .
One of the group IVCA rides took us to Drais final resting place .... races in the afternoon !
So below a few photos celebrating the ride and the IVCA rally ....so in short get on you bike and ride Monday June 12th ..and be dare happy about those pedals ..... as you'll never know just how much you'll miss them when you don't have them .
Oh yes Drais machines have brakes ...push the steering tiller away and brake ..but you loose control of steering whilst doing it ..no worries ..Johnson machines ..no brakes ..( none) ..but toy have two feet to drag along the pavement .... do you know how hot your shoes can get dragging them down a hill and 20 mph ?
Life is for the living !!!!
Cheers Carey
Monday June 12th you can get on your bike and ride ..in celebration of Karl Drais first ride 200 years ago . Don't blow it or you''ll have to wait another 100 years .
Thursday June 12th 1817 Karl Drais jumped on his Laufs machine / swift walker / draisienne, hobby horse ( bike with no pedals) and rode out of Mannheim ( Germany) and back again about 9 km roughly a mere hour of one mans life ..but the beginning of a lifetime of fun and recreation for the rest of the world ... ok so may be not on a hobby horse ...but once they added pedals ( Pierre Lallement 1863) things got really rolling .
The IVCA (International Veteran Cycle Association) just completed it's rally in Karlsruhe ...home of Drais ..in life and death .. about 450 old bike folks gathered with a record number of hobby horses..some 28 all running in a herd, complete with racing !
The real fun was the ride to the meet .... about 14 folks from around the planet gathered in Nancy ,France with there draisienne / hobby horse ..and headed east to Karlsruhe , Germany ...about 240 Km ..covering about 55 km per day ...( which just about killed us off) . With 7 .3 billion folks on this planet and only 14 showed up to ride ... there are a lot of smart folks out there .
All was fun as we gathered in Nancy in anticipation of the big ride . Draisiennes and hobby horses..have two wheels ( wooden wagon type ..which all but one had rubber bands super glued on to the steel tires ..to reduce the vibrations ... reduce ,,,yes ,, in no way eliminate . Now you walk , run, with your feet ..yes touching the ground ...long strides ... your body has never done this before ... and after riding one ..your body will go into to shakes at the mere sight of a hobby horse. It was a learning curve for all of us ..... I rode a Johnson hobby horse copy from 1818 ...very fortunate that Johnson added coasting pegs on the front wheel ...yes to coast with ...anytime the earth slopped down you coast for all it that gravity can pull you . I found it much more effective and less painful to the body to use the hobby as a scooter pushing off with one foot ..and alternating feet .... one level ground I could keep up with my two legged comrades .
We had a great time riding on various bike paths paralleling several water canals ... going from little town to little town...serenaded by the Cuckoo bird who was all you happy to give audio commentary to the sight he saw..day after day after day with every bend of the trail he was there .
On the 5th day of riding we crossed the Rhine on a ferry and raced ..(we averaged 10.5km per hour ..so 6 mph ..that's top speed ..faster than walking....but not by much ) to our destination Karlsruhe and paid homage to Drais' monument ..he seemed quite surprised upon out arrival .
One of the group IVCA rides took us to Drais final resting place .... races in the afternoon !
So below a few photos celebrating the ride and the IVCA rally ....so in short get on you bike and ride Monday June 12th ..and be dare happy about those pedals ..... as you'll never know just how much you'll miss them when you don't have them .
Oh yes Drais machines have brakes ...push the steering tiller away and brake ..but you loose control of steering whilst doing it ..no worries ..Johnson machines ..no brakes ..( none) ..but toy have two feet to drag along the pavement .... do you know how hot your shoes can get dragging them down a hill and 20 mph ?
Life is for the living !!!!
Cheers Carey
